Cyber crime

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A teenager who took his own life after being blackmailed by strangers online is "every parent's worst nightmare", his mother has said.

Nicola Perry said that Daniel, 17, was left traumatised by the ordeal. She added:

Whoever was at the other end of that computer did not know Daniel. They didn't care that he was a loving and caring person with his whole life ahead of him. To them, he was just another faceless victim to exploit for cash.

Losing Daniel has left us all devastated and we are still trying to come to terms with what has happened.

Interpol, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and authorities in the Philippines joined a major criminal inquiry after a British teenager, who was blackmailed online, took his own life.

Police Scotland said Daniel Perry, 17, from Dunfermline in Fife lost his life due to cyber-crime linked to the Philippines. Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, of major crime and public protection, said:

Our message is clear: Our focus is on keeping people safe and there is no hiding place - anywhere in the world - if you are a criminal and you undertake this type of activity, which preys on those who might be the most vulnerable and susceptible to coercion and blackmail.

A young Scottish teenager lost his life as a result of this online activity. The impact on his family, friends and wider community cannot be imagined.

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British police investigating the death of a teenager who took his own life after being blackmailed by strangers online have been involved in a major international operation targeting cyber-crime in the Philippines.

Daniel Perry, 17, from Dunfermline in Fife Credit: Scotland/PA Wire

Daniel Perry, 17, from Dunfermline in Fife, died in July last year after falling victim to an alleged "sextortion" attempt, in which internet users are lured into webcam chats and then blackmailed with the footage.

Inquiries by detectives from Police Scotland revealed an electronic online trail, which led to the Philippines and links to organised crime groups there. More than 50 people have been arrested in a series of raids, according to Philippine authorities in an operation codenamed Strikeback.

Crime is at record low levels and this government is taking action to tackle the cyber threat, investing more than £850 million through the national cyber security programme to develop and maintain cutting-edge capabilities.

The National Crime Agency will include a new elite National Cyber Crime unit to target the most serious offenders and provide enhanced intelligence for CEOP so they can protect even more children from harm.

But we know we need to keep pace with criminals as they target the web and so we continue to consider ways to ensure the police and security services have access to communications data.

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Crime is changing and not falling at the rate that figures suggests, the chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales said today, after an influential group of MPs found that UK was "losing the war against cyber crime" in a new report.

Steve Williams said:

It is extremely concerning that relentless cuts to policing are continuing at a time when there is a burgeoning cyber crime industry.

This report highlights how the Government message that its reforms are working because crime is falling is one which is over-simplistic and misleading. It is also rightly acknowledges that online crime can play a direct role in other offences being committed.

Crime is clearly changing, not falling at the rate the figures suggest, and an unknown but extremely high number of offences are going unreported. The police service needs greater, not fewer, resources to deal with the challenges of the 21st century.

The UK is being "too complacent" about online criminal activity because the victims are hidden in cyberspace, the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee said today, after it issued a warning that the country was "losing the war on internet crime".

Labour MP Keith Vaz said:

The threat of a cyber attack to the UK is so serious it is marked as a higher threat than a nuclear attack.

You can steal more on the internet than you can by robbing a bank and online criminals in 25 countries have chosen the UK as their number one target. Astonishingly, some are operating from EU countries.

If we don't have a 21st century response to this 21st century crime, we will be letting those involved in these gangs off the hook.

The UK is losing the war against internet crime, an influential group of MPs has warned. Despite being the preferred target of online criminals in 25 countries, the UK is still "complacent" towards e-crime as victims are "hidden in cyberspace", the Home Affairs Select Committee said.

UK is 'losing the war against internet crime'. Credit: Adam Peck/PA Wire

The group of MPs said sufficient funding and resources for tackling online crime, which includes Identity theft, industrial espionage, credit card fraud and child exploitation, has not been allocated.

Tougher sentences for online criminals and improved training for police officers are recommended by the Committee to deal with the growing threat of cyber criminality.